Hay and other feedstuffs are often accumulated in large (500-1500 lb) round rolls (bales) and/or square bales and stored for feeding cattle or other livestock when natural forage is unavailable. Feeders are used to allow the livestock to retrieve feedstuff while preventing them from full access which could cause unnecessary waste of feedstuff via trampling. Livestock, particularly cattle, stick their heads through a portal in the device to retrieve the feedstuff and a “skirt” is placed around the outside of the feeder which keeps hay from falling outside the feeder and being trampled.
In the recent past, feeders have been produced entirely out of metal which have excellent mechanical integrity, but will eventually corrode in the wet, manure rich environment they find themselves. Due to this corrosion, the life span of a typical hay feeder is likely less than 10 years.
Recently, attempts have been made to manufacture cattle feeders entirely out of plastic relying on the resiliency of the plastic to bounce back as the cattle push in toward the feedstuff. These feeders have been marketed as having a lifetime warranty.
However, unfortunately, it has been found that the commercial plastic feeders mentioned above would eventually collapse at the lower ledge of the portal under the pressure of the cattle at the point where the breastbone of the bovine pressed in past the lower ledge of the portal toward the feedstuff. The resiliency of the plastic, promoted as a feature of the product, has not been sufficient to sustain the structural integrity of the feeder.
Thus, a need has arisen for a feeder that is rust resistant and sufficiently rigid to sustain compression at the point of pressure as the livestock reach in through a portal toward the feedstuff.